Feasibility study of earthquake early warning (EEW) in Hawaii
Weston A. Thelen, Alicia J. Hotovec-Ellis, Paul Bodin
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1172
The effects of earthquake shaking on the population and infrastructure across the State of Hawaii could be catastrophic, and the high seismic hazard in the region emphasizes the likelihood of such an event. Earthquake early warning (EEW) has the potential to give several seconds of warning before strong shaking starts,...
Geologic structure of the Yucaipa area inferred from gravity data, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, California
Gregory O. Mendez, Victoria E. Langenheim, Andrew Morita, Wesley R. Danskin
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1127
In the spring of 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, began working on a gravity survey in the Yucaipa area to explore the three-dimensional shape of the sedimentary fill (alluvial deposits) and the surface of the underlying crystalline basement rocks....
Benthic processes affecting contaminant transport in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon
James S. Kuwabara, Brent R. Topping, James L. Carter, Rick A Carlson, Francis Parchaso, Steven V. Fend, Natalie Stauffer-Olsen, Andrew J. Manning, Jennie M. Land
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1175
Executive SummaryMultiple sampling trips during calendar years 2013 through 2015 were coordinated to provide measurements of interdependent benthic processes that potentially affect contaminant transport in Upper Klamath Lake (UKL), Oregon. The measurements were motivated by recognition that such internal processes (for example, solute benthic flux, bioturbation and solute efflux by...
MT3D-USGS version 1: A U.S. Geological Survey release of MT3DMS updated with new and expanded transport capabilities for use with MODFLOW
Vivek Bedekar, Eric D. Morway, Christian D. Langevin, Matthew J. Tonkin
2016, Techniques and Methods 6-A53
MT3D-USGS, a U.S. Geological Survey updated release of the groundwater solute transport code MT3DMS, includes new transport modeling capabilities to accommodate flow terms calculated by MODFLOW packages that were previously unsupported by MT3DMS and to provide greater flexibility in the simulation of solute transport and reactive solute transport. Unsaturated-zone...
Characterizing changes in streamflow and sediment supply in the Sacramento River Basin, California, using hydrological simulation program—FORTRAN (HSPF)
Michelle A. Stern, Lorraine E. Flint, Justin Toby Minear, Alan L. Flint, Scott Wright
2016, Water (8) 432
A daily watershed model of the Sacramento River Basin of northern California was developed to simulate streamflow and suspended sediment transport to the San Francisco Bay-Delta. To compensate for sparse data, a unique combination of model inputs was developed, including meteorological variables, potential evapotranspiration, and parameters defining hydraulic geometry. A...
User’s manual for the Automated Data Assurance and Management application developed for quality control of Everglades Depth Estimation Network water-level data
Matthew D. Petkewich, Ruby C. Daamen, Edwin A. Roehl, Paul Conrads
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1116
The generation of Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) daily water-level and water-depth maps is dependent on high quality real-time data from over 240 water-level stations. To increase the accuracy of the daily water-surface maps, the Automated Data Assurance and Management (ADAM) tool was created by the U.S. Geological Survey as...
Using inferential sensors for quality control of Everglades Depth Estimation Network water-level data
Matthew D. Petkewich, Ruby C. Daamen, Edwin A. Roehl, Paul Conrads
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5094
The Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN), with over 240 real-time gaging stations, provides hydrologic data for freshwater and tidal areas of the Everglades. These data are used to generate daily water-level and water-depth maps of the Everglades that are used to assess biotic responses to hydrologic change resulting from the...
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms and U.S. Geological Survey science capabilities
Jennifer L. Graham, Neil M. Dubrovsky, Sandra M. Eberts
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1174
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) are increasingly a global concern because CyanoHABs pose a threat to human and aquatic ecosystem health and cause economic damages. Despite advances in scientific understanding of cyanobacteria and associated compounds, many unanswered questions remain about occurrence, environmental triggers for toxicity, and the ability to predict...
2011 Souris River flood—Will it happen again?
Rochelle A. Nustad, Kelsey A. Kolars, Aldo V. Vecchia, Karen R. Ryberg
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3073
The Souris River Basin is a 61,000 square kilometer basin in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba and the state of North Dakota. Record setting rains in May and June of 2011 led to record flooding with peak annual streamflow values (762 cubic meters per second [m3/s]) more than twice...
Altitudes and thicknesses of hydrogeologic units of the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma
Drew A. Westerman, Jonathan A. Gillip, Joseph M. Richards, Phillip D. Hays, Brian R. Clark
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5130
A hydrogeologic framework was constructed to represent the altitudes and thicknesses of hydrogeologic units within the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system as part of a regional groundwater-flow model supported by the U.S. Geological Survey Water Availability and Use Science Program. The Ozark Plateaus aquifer system study area is nearly 70,000 square...
Monitoring and research on the Bi-State Distinct Population Segment of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the Pine Nut Mountains, California and Nevada—Study progress report, 2011–15
Peter S. Coates, Katie M. Andrle, Pilar T. Ziegler, Michael L. Casazza
2016, Open-File Report 2015-1222
The Bi-State distinct population segment (DPS) of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) that occurs along the Nevada–California border was proposed for listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in October 2013. However, in April 2015, the FWS determined that the...
U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2015 annual report
Zachary H. Bowen, Cameron L. Aldridge, Patrick J. Anderson, Timothy J. Assal, Timothy T. Bartos, Anna D. Chalfoun, Geneva W. Chong, Marie K. Dematatis, Cheryl A. Eddy-Miller, Steven L. Garman, Stephen S. Germaine, Collin G. Homer, Matthew J. Kauffman, Christopher C. Huber, Daniel J. Manier, Cynthia P. Melcher, Kirk A. Miller, Tamar Norkin, Lindsey E. Sanders, Annika W. Walters, Anna B. Wilson, Teal B. Wyckoff
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1141
This is the eighth annual report highlighting U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) science and decision-support activities conducted for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI). The activities address specific management needs identified by WLCI partner agencies. In 2015, USGS scientists continued 24 WLCI projects in 5 categories: (1) acquiring and analyzing resource-condition data...
USGS science and technology help managers battle invading Asian carp
Cynthia S. Kolar, Sandra S. Morrison
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3063
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducts Asian carp research focused on early detection, risk assessment, and development of control tools and strategies. The goals are to prevent the establishment of invasive Asian carp in the Great Lakes and to reduce their impacts in the Ohio River and Mississippi River Basins...
When can the cause of a population decline be determined?
Trevor J. Hefley, Mevin Hooten, John M. Drake, Robin E. Russell, Daniel P. Walsh
2016, Ecology Letters (19) 1353-1362
Inferring the factors responsible for declines in abundance is a prerequisite to preventing the extinction of wild populations. Many of the policies and programmes intended to prevent extinctions operate on the assumption that the factors driving the decline of a population can be determined. Exogenous factors that cause declines in...
The Department of the Interior Southeast Climate Science Center synthesis report 2011–15—Projects, products, and science priorities
Elda Varela Minder, Aranzazu R. Lascurain, Gerard McMahon
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1133
IntroductionIn 2009, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Ken Salazar established a network of eight regional Climate Science Centers (CSCs) that, along with the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs), would help define and implement the Department's climate adaptation response. The Southeast Climate Science Center (SE CSC) was established at...
Development and assessment of a new method for combining catch per unit effort data from different fish sampling gears: Multigear mean standardization (MGMS)
D.K. Gibson-Reinemer, Brian Ickes, John H. Chick
2016, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (74) 8-14
Fish community assessments are often based on sampling with multiple gear types. However, multivariate methods used to assess fish community structure and composition are sensitive to differences in the relative scale of indices or measures of abundance produced by different sampling methods. This makes combining data from different sampling gears...
Geoelectric hazard maps for the continental United States
Jeffrey J. Love, Antti Pulkkinen, Paul A. Bedrosian, Seth Jonas, Anna Kelbert, Erin (Josh) Rigler, Carol Finn, Christopher Balch, Robert Rutledge, Richard Waggel, Andrew Sabata, Janet Kozyra, Carrie Black
2016, Geophysical Research Letters (43) 9415-9424
In support of a multiagency project for assessing induction hazards, we present maps of extreme-value geoelectric amplitudes over about half of the continental United States. These maps are constructed using a parameterization of induction: estimates of Earth surface impedance, obtained at discrete geographic sites from magnetotelluric survey data, are convolved...
Aquatic biological communities and associated habitats at selected sites in the Big Wood River Watershed, south-central Idaho, 2014
Dorene E. MacCoy, Terry M. Short
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5128
Assessments of streamflow (discharge) parameters, water quality, physical habitat, and biological communities were completed between May and September 2014 as part of a monitoring program in the Big Wood River watershed of south-central Idaho. The sampling was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with Blaine County, Trout Unlimited,...
Construction of a groundwater-flow model for the Big Sioux Aquifer using airborne electromagnetic methods, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Joshua F. Valder, Gregory C. Delzer, Janet M. Carter, Bruce D. Smith, David V. Smith
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3075
The city of Sioux Falls is the fastest growing community in South Dakota. In response to this continued growth and planning for future development, Sioux Falls requires a sustainable supply of municipal water. Planning and managing sustainable groundwater supplies requires a thorough understanding of local groundwater resources. The Big Sioux...
Potential sources of analytical bias and error in selected trace element data-quality analyses
Angela P. Paul, John R. Garbarino, Lisa D. Olsen, Michael R. Rosen, Christopher A. Mebane, Tedmund M. Struzeski
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5135
Potential sources of analytical bias and error associated with laboratory analyses for selected trace elements where concentrations were greater in filtered samples than in paired unfiltered samples were evaluated by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Quality Specialists in collaboration with the USGS National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL) and the...
Demographic mechanisms underpinning genetic assimilation of remnant groups of a large carnivore
Nathaniel Mikle, Tabitha A. Graves, Ryan P. Kovach, Katherine C. Kendall, Amy C. Macleod
2016, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (283)
Current range expansions of large terrestrial carnivores are occurring following human-induced range contraction. Contractions are often incomplete, leaving small remnant groups in refugia throughout the former range. Little is known about the underlying ecological and evolutionary processes that influence how remnant groups are affected during range expansion. We used data...
Bifenthrin causes trophic cascades and alters insect emergence in mesocosms: implication for small streams
Holly Rogers, Travis S. Schmidt, Brittanie L. Dabney, Michelle Hladik, Barbara Mahler, Peter C. Van Metre
2016, Environmental Science & Technology (50) 11974-11983
Direct and indirect ecological effects of the widely used insecticide bifenthrin on stream ecosystems are largely unknown. To investigate such effects, a manipulative experiment was conducted in stream mesocosms that were colonized by aquatic insect communities and exposed to bifenthrin-contaminated sediment; implications for natural streams were interpreted through comparison of...
Status and trends of land change in the Eastern United States—1973 to 2000
Kristi L. Sayler, William Acevedo, Janis Taylor, editor(s)
2016, Professional Paper 1794-D
PrefaceU.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 1794–D is the fourth in a four-volume series on the status and trends of the Nation’s land use and land cover, providing an assessment of the rates and causes of land-use and land-cover change in the Eastern United States between 1973 and 2000. Volumes...
Discharge, water temperature, and water quality of Warm Mineral Springs, Sarasota County, Florida: A retrospective analysis
Patricia A. Metz
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1166
Warm Mineral Springs, located in southern Sarasota County, Florida, is a warm, highly mineralized, inland spring. Since 1946, a bathing spa has been in operation at the spring, attracting vacationers and health enthusiasts. During the winter months, the warm water attracts manatees to the adjoining spring run and provides vital...
Resource nationalism in Indonesia—Effects of the 2014 mineral export ban
Graham W. Lederer
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3072
Resource nationalism encompasses a broad range of political and economic actions taken by Governments to regulate the extraction of natural resources within their borders. Policies such as increased tariffs or export restrictions can have far-reaching economic effects on international trade. As the Governments of several developing countries consider enacting nationalistic...
